Cabinet oat sprouter



c. c. CLOUSER cABiuET OAT sPfibuTER Filed April 25, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l um/whom Feb. 17, 1925.

' 1,526,832 C. C. .CLOUSER CABINET OAT SPROUTER Filed April 25, 1923 2 SheetsSheet 2 o Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

. (UNITED sures urinates c. cLo s -R, or IBELLWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA;

; CABINET "oar srnournn.

Application filed April 25, 1923; Serial No. 34,522

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I,1G11AR ns C. CLo snn, aj citiylen of theUnitdStates, residing at Bellwood; inthe county of :Blairxand State 5 of Pennsylvania, haveginventedcertain new and. useful Improvements in a Cabinet :Qat Sprouter, of which.thefollowingis a speci lication.

' This invention relates to sprouters and moreparticularlyto an improved device for holding a plurality of relatively shallow pans in-iwhich oats-may be sprouted to: provide green food for poultry.

One: of the objects. of the invention is to provide a 'cabinetin which maybe arranged a plurality of. pans: to contain sprouting oats and which will be so constructedfand arranged W as to permit the uppermost pan to be withdrawn fro-n1 the cabinet while a single movementof-thefoot'of the operator on a lift lever associated with suitable mechanism, will raise the remaining pans to a higher positionso that a new pan may be placed inthe bottom of the cabinet, thus 2 avoiding the necessity "of successively reinovingthe pans fromtheir respective compartments. and raising them to a higher compartment as is necessary with the devices now generally in use. l (Dtheir'objfects of theinvention will? appear upon consideration ofthe following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the cabinet constructed in accordance with my invent-ion. i t V Figure 2 is a. horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line:3.3 ofFi igure 2.

Figure l is a detailed view of the lifting mechanism shown in extended position.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 6 is a detailed view of the supporting means for the pan.

Figure 7 is a detailed perspective view of the lifting rack, and

'Figure 8 is a detailed perspective view of one of the pans.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the apparatus comprises the cabinet 1, which includes a main frame formed of four upri htchannel members 2 at the corners of the caiinet and held in properly spaced relation by the top cross bars 3 and the base bars l. Side and rear walls of the cabinet are formedby the panels 5 andIG and the front of the cabinet is provided with a rans n F 9 7 h nse y 1i iti ted a adapted tobe swung open. whereby access may be had to the interior of the 'cahinet.

The corner posts 2 form giiides for the movable pans 8 which are nat ed'superposed relation within the cabi et and'are relatively shallow to contain qu oats and water, w ereby the oats are sprouted. Each pan S isfprov ed at. tch corner withastandardglandthe eserve as upp 9 ng g i h a li iser t hiii" 1 5w when.all ofthepansare lifted. l

Swing shelves 10 areprovided t0 suppert the pans inpositiom am ss shownfo ad vantage Figure 6,. each shelf l0 comprises a spring band 11 having. a supporting flange 12 to receive the pan, and an apt 'ned'lip 13, the terminals of whielr are 'e nde'd to the channels in the posited-Q limit thefoutward swinging movement of the shelves. The spring action of theQs )1fin "band llis assisted by coil expansionspi'ings 14E interposed between the bands lll'and the wallsof the cabinet. In this manner the swing shelves are adapted to move utwardly when the pans are moved upwarc so that the pans may be elevated to a higherposition and, when liftingniechanism isi'elea d the pans will rest on the adjaeent channels. The lowermost pan is s pported upon a lifting rack 15 which comprises the sideflbars 16 and the rods 17, andfthis lifting rahlt attached to the lifting mechanisnrwhich is adapted tobeoperatedby thelfootbf the operator. "This lifting mechanism honiprises. afpressure bar 18fp ivotall connected .to the lower end of one of the corner posts, and also connectedpnear pivoted efidfwith one end of the connecting link 19. The opposite end of the connecting link 19 is pivotally joined to the lower end of the lift lever 20 and the lift lever has its upper end attached to the lifting rack 15 making a pivotal connection with one of the rack bars 16. The lift lever 20 is slightly curved as shown, so that it will assume the proper position for maintaining the lifting rack in its upper position when the lifting mechanism is operated. An auxiliary link 21 is pivoted at one end to the base bar 4: of the main frame and has its opposite end connected by a pivot pin to the lift lever 20 to a point on the latter near the lower end thereof. This arrangement of nks and levers is duplicated on the opposite side of the frame and the forward ends of the pres sure bars 18 are attached to a foot rod 22 adapted to be engaged by the foot of the operator when the lifting mechanism is to be actuated.

The apparatus operates substantially as follows. The pans will be provided with a quantity of cats to be sprouted and they will be watered and moistened in the mannerwell known in the art. It is well known that in using devices of this character the best sprouted oats'appear more quickly in the topmost pan. It is customary, therefore, to remove theuppermost pan and then raise. the other pans one space and insert a new pan in the lowermost space. This requires considerable labor which is obviated by the present'structure. The user removes the topmost pan from the cabinet, and he then has merely to place his foot on the foot rod 22 and exerta downward pressure thereon which will cause the pressure bars 18 to swing downwardly, thereby exerting a pull on the link 19, thus exerting an upward pressure on the lifting lever 20, which is controlled by the link 21 during its swinging movement so that the links and levers move from the positions shown in Figure 3 of the drawings to the positions shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, thus elevating the rack bar 15 to a higher position and permitting a pan to be'inserted in the bottom of the frame after the lifting rack has been lowered. During the upward movement of the lifting rack 15, it engages the nearest pan and thrusts the same upwardly, and since the pans are arranged in superposed relation, the standard 9 will engage the adjacent pan and all of the pans will be lifted together and force the spring shelves inwardly to permit the pans to pass. After they have been elevated to the proper dis tame the spring shelves will spring out- \vardly and support the pans in their proper position as shown in Figure 3. The labor of removing all of the pans and replacing them, therefore, is entirely avoided.

Minor changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

hat I claim is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a frame, a plurality of receptacles arranged in superposed relation in the frame, and engageable with each other, spring means to support each of said receptacles in spaced relation, and manually operating lifting means below the lowermost receptacle to be actuated for forcing said lowermost receptacle upwardly, whereby all of said receptacles will be simultaneously elevated.

2. In a device of the character described comprising a frame, a plurality of receptacles arranged in superposed relation in the frame, standards carried by each rcccptacle for engagement with the receptacle thereabove, spring means to support each of said receptacles in spaced relation, and manually operated lifting means mounted in the frame to exert an upward pressure against the lowermost receptacle which will cause the standards of each receptacle to engage the receptacle thereabove to elevate the same.

3. A device of the character described comprising a supporting frame, a plurality of receptacles arranged in superposed relation and engageable with each other, and adapted for vertical movement in the frame, a lifting rack disposed beneath the lowermost receptacle, a foot rod, pressure bars pivotally connected to the frame, a lift lever pivotally connected to the lifting rack, a connecting link joining one end of said lifting lever to the pressure bar, and an auxiliary link connecting said liftinglever to the frame.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. CLOUSER.

Witnesses:

J. A. SCHMITTLE, C. H. RHODES. 

